Thank you, Sunder [Katwala] it is a great pleasure to be here with the Fabian Society, still the premier socialist think-tank after 123 years, to take forward the debate on the future of the Labour Party.

There is a fundamental question which demands an urgent answer: was Labour's electoral success in 1997, 2001 and 2005 merely a product of Tony Blair's inspired leadership, or was it because of something more profound and substantive?

There will be plenty of people who want to argue the former.

Mostly, of course, Labour's opponents, who will want to promulgate the myth that New Labour was an aberration, and once its leader leaves the stage, the party loses its election-winning magic.

But my argument to you this evening is the latter – that our electoral success was based on an analysis and a political method, which can transcend the comings and goings of us mere politicians, and sustain a Labour government for many more years to come.

Labour's long road back to government didn't begin in 1994, when Tony Blair became leader. It was a painstaking process throughout the 1980s, led by Neil Kinnock and then John Smith. It took policy reviews, renewal of the party's policy making process and conference, modernisation of our campaigning and communications.

Labour's historic reconnection with the British people was accelerated and cemented under Tony Blair in the three years before the 1997 landslide. But the foundations were laid many years before.

Labour's historic reconnection with the people was anchored in three principles:

• Modern socialism is a philosophy of values, not a narrow set of economic policies. Values endure. Policies change as times change.
• Labour's policies must reflect the priorities of the British people; they cannot stand in direct conflict with the values, attitudes and aspirations of the majority.
• Labour is about winning elections, not the wasteland of opposition, and that means reaching to people beyond our heartlands, as well as in our heartlands.

Importantly, this analysis is not about different parts of Britain in conflict, (north versus south) but about creating a coalition for change across the country. The bedrock of our political approach – social justice allied to economic efficiency – has an appeal amongst traditional white working class voters as well as middle-class voters, ethnic communities, and a range of social groups. We don't have to choose between sections of the electorate. Our appeal should be broad enough for the electorate as a whole. Certainly that is what we achieved in 1997.

Reflecting on the results of the English local elections last Thursday, it is clear that the south of England remains one of the crucial battle-grounds, along with other key clusters of marginal seats.

Labour's majority rests with seats either side of the M25, such as Crawley, Enfield North, Feltham & Heston, and Harrow East and West.

It rests in the seats on the Kent coast: Dartford, Medway, Sittingbourne & Sheppey, South Thanet and Dover.

The M1 corridor: Watford, Stevenage, Luton, Bedford.

The M4 triangle: Gloucester, Bristol West, Swindon, Stroud.

We can add to these geographic clusters, clusters of seats drawn up by their demographic characteristics, for example seaside seats such as Hove, Hastings & Rye, or Dorset South, or what we call 'urban educated' seats such as Reading East, Finchley and Golders Green, or Battersea.

Of course there are marginal seats across the country, in urban, suburban and rural areas, in England, Scotland and Wales, and we mustn't lose a single one of them.

But out of 39 'super-marginals', where Labour's majority is 2 per cent or less, 26 are in the southern parts of England.

The point about these seats is that they are not seats we've historically held; some such as Hove or Dorset South, we never believed we would ever win.

And the reason why people choose Labour in these seats is not because of tribal loyalty, family tradition, trade union membership, or traditional industries.

It is because they feel that Labour offers something in tune with their lives, that we're on their side, and that we can help them realise their aspirations.

Because they agree with us on issues like jobs, housing, immigration, commuter rail services, education, the NHS, economic stability, low inflation and interest rates.

If we cede the centre ground on these issues to the Tories, we will lose these seats.

As a Salford MP, from a strong trade union family, why am I so focussed on these marginal seats?

It's simple: unless people in Swindon, Stevenage and South Thanet vote Labour as well as people in Salford, Sunderland and Sedgefield, then my friends and neighbours in Salford don't get the extra doctors and nurses, the new school buildings, the jobs and the investment.

This is not a new trick, of course: Labour managed it in 1945, when we won such seats as Bexley, Buckingham, Croydon, Enfield, Faversham, King's Lynn, Swindon, Watford and Wycombe for Labour.

And we managed it in 1964 and 1966, when we gained seats like Billericay, Exeter, Brentford & Chiswick, Falmouth & Camborne, and Brighton.

The only times we've been successful, both electorally, and more importantly, in terms of delivery of reforms such as the NHS, the Open University, or the national minimum wage, is when we appeal across the classes, across the regions, and across traditional party tribal loyalties.

That perhaps is the key lesson for the coming period, as we recast the Labour Party and renew ourselves in office: if we retreat into our comfort zone, we lose.

Now, to focus on winning, what kind of party organisation will we need?

It seems obvious to me that because society is changing so fast – the way we work, talk, and play – that our political organisation has to change as fast, just to keep up. Yet our structure still relies on a delegate-based system, with small evening meetings, with formal agendas, minutes, correspondence, and report-backs. It would not be unfamiliar to Ramsey MacDonald or Arthur Henderson.

It is clear to me that if we continue with the current structure and culture of the Labour Party, we will cease to exist as a national political party beyond the end of the decade.

Already, as the recent election campaign showed, there are parts of the country where local Labour parties find it hard to stand candidates and run campaigns.

For example last week in South Northamptonshire district council, fourteen Conservative councillors were elected unopposed. Yet there are Labour voters in every part of the country, if only there are Labour candidates to vote for.

In other places, for example Brighton & Hove, we have Labour MPs in seats where the councillor base has been eroded, and thus the network of local activists anchored on elected councillors is increasingly threadbare. This is extremely worrying, because you cannot easily win parliamentary elections without the sub-structure of local councillors serving as support.

So we need a programme of reform for the Labour Party, and I would like to set out some ideas for change:

Let's start with a sense of what Labour is for.

Are we merely an elaborate vote-harvesting machine, designed to support our elected representatives, and to provide a rent-a-crowd for the leaderships' television appearances?

Well, I've never bought into that view of the local Labour party.

For my money, the Labour Party should be an agent of change, locally as well as nationally. We need to turn the Labour Party outwards into the community, so that local Labour is a catalyst for change.

It should be Labour people running local campaigns, charity shops, youth clubs, football leagues, tenants' and residents' associations, New Deal for Communities boards, crèches, environmental clean-up campaigns and social enterprises.

Our activity in the here-and-now should be an illustration of the kind of socialist society we want to create. We should lead by example.

In Leicester on May 3rd, we gained 18 seats, mostly at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, and took control of the council. Our Labour candidates comprised community activists, local business leaders, and active faith group members, and reflected the full range of the local community, from the much-vaunted white working class, to Asian candidates from a variety of backgrounds.

The local Labour Party should be the place to go if you want advice, help or resources. Think of the talent and expertise inside every local party, even in places with few elected representatives. This could be placed at the community's disposal, for example by running advice surgeries led by our campaign teams or 'parliamentary spokespeople' in neighbourhoods where we don't have MPs or councillors.

We need a culture which reflects modern life. When Labour was founded, people attended meetings all the time: religious meetings, temperance meetings, boys' brigade, co-op meetings, sports clubs, cycling clubs, rambling clubs, singing clubs, and adult education. So the format of a Labour party meeting fitted into the rhythm of working people's lives and experiences.

Today, people rarely attend meetings, outside of their work. Labour's way of working jars with most people's everyday experience: an evening meeting every month, with a written notice, and formal minutes.

It's just strange!

So we need to create space for Labour activity outside of this rigid structure. We mustn't undermine local structures where they work well.

We don't want a US-style party with a loose coalition of supporters, rather than an active membership.

No-one wants a party prey to mass infiltration or 'entryism' by extremists.

The Labour Party will always have to concern itself with the business of democracy: raising funds, recruiting supporters, fighting elections, supporting representatives and developing policy.

No-one should be left out because of cultural barriers – and that means thinking about whether meetings should always be in pubs if Muslims can't attend, or late at night if women can't get home safely.

There must be practical measures to secure the nomination of more candidates from black and minority ethnic communities, and people with disabilities. Our council chambers and parliaments must reflect our communities and our society.

Labour's local structures should reflect local communities, not electoral boundaries, so party activity can be organised at a village, town, city, borough or county level. Its focus will be on activity, not bureaucracy.

Labour's multiplicity of small meetings reporting to other small meetings should be balanced by action committees, social events, community campaigns and political education. I don't mean creating more work for our current band of hard-pressed activists. I mean a broader range of party activities, not just meetings, to make life in the party more rewarding, and to attract more people.

A local compact

Being a Labour representative is a great honour and responsibility. Local parties should develop a 'compact' with their candidates and elected representatives to agree the degree of commitment a local party can expect.

We should also introduce the Swedish socialists' system of 'party days' whereby all Labour representatives give a set number of days per year to purely Labour Party activity.

Our appeal to young people

We must appeal to the 'facebook' generation. We need a renewed effort to encourage more young members, building on, respecting the traditions, and maintaining the independence of Labour Students, Young Fabians and trade union youth sections.

We need as a priority a dedicated youth officer at Labour HQ, and more support for Labour Students in establishing new Labour Clubs and maintaining existing ones.

We need a new Labour Academy to train our supporters, especially young people, in political organisation and ideas, and to develop a new generation of lay organisers.

A Labour supporters' network (LSN)

Supporters as well as members should be encouraged to take part and share their views and energies, for example campaigning in by-elections, helping with environmental clean-ups, or campaigning against the BNP.

Encouraging a half-way house between our 200,000 members and our ten million voters makes perfect sense.

The supporters' network is no threat to our membership, but a way of recruiting more members, raising funds, encouraging more activism and staying in touch with local communities.

Utilising new technology

We are developing a national database, currently being piloted, which will join together all the information we have about our members, supporters and potential voters, backed by a national training programme for our activists.

We will be able to target voters based on sophisticated analysis of their characteristics, and communicate with them in a variety of ways.

We will be able to develop an on-going relationship with key sections of the electorate.

Every Labour Party member now has an MPurl, their own website and blog facility. There's also 'pin2win' which enables any of our supporters to click on a map and see what campaigning is going on anywhere in the country.

Our activities should be transparent – local communities should be encouraged to take part in testing our candidates before we select them, in helping with elections, in discussing policy, and in debating with local representatives and ministers.

Party activity will be structured around the convenience of the members: online discussions, conference calls, blogs, and personal websites, although there is no substitute for personal contact with the electorate.

A more influential NPF

The national policy forum (NPF) should become the powerhouse for ideas and policies, anticipating and meeting the policy challenges of the future, and reflecting our affiliated organisations' and members' concerns.

It should become the true 'parliament of the movement' and places should be even more coveted and hotly contested.

Labour's annual conference should hold the NPF to account, debate the big issues and give attendees a unique opportunity for training, political discussion, socialising with others, and unrivalled access to hear and question the party's leadership.

Our Partnership in Power process should be bolstered by increases in state funding, so that there can be local co-ordinators and facilitators. This should serve to increase levels of participation, and to ensure our policy-making is robust.

A Party embracing the future

Tomorrow's Labour Party will be have to be a focussed election-winning machine, if we are to win a fourth term. But it will also be a sociable, enjoyable, fulfilling place to be for its members.

It should reflect the full diversity of our communities.

Voluntary activity will be rewarded by personal development as well as communal benefit and social progress.

I believe that in the future the important functions of leading our campaigns, representing the party at the Cabinet table and delivering our manifesto should rest with the Deputy Leader of the Party – elected by the membership.

Democratic elections – that's the Labour way.

And that's why I am standing in the forthcoming deputy leadership elections.

Thank you.

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